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Kathy Mendla
Background Candidate in 2006 Republican Primary for PA Senate, 12th district. Source: Kathy Mendla, http://www.kathymendla.com/ R-Bucks, for PA Senate, 12th, (primary challenger) in May 2006 * Blog at http://kathymendla.blogspot.com/ Issues We need new competition in the health care insurance industry – competition will lower the rates for our citizens. If we encourage additional health insurance companies to provide insurance in Pennsylvania, the additional competition will provide Pennsylvanians with better choices. Competition will certainly drive down premium costs . Property Tax Reduction I would like to see 50% reduction in property taxes funded by streamlining the budget like getting rid of the 200 million in walking around money. Almost all of the plans being touted by the incumbents as "property tax reform" are not going to lower your taxes overall . The incumbents' plans all include increases in sales tax , earned income tax, and/or personal income taxes . The net result for most people is that are overall tax burden would remain the same or even higher. Protection from Eminent Domain Abuses I am opposed to using Eminent Domain for the taking of private property for the benefit of private developers . No one's property is safe due to the United States Supreme Court's Kelo decision. Without legislation from Harrisburg to protect our citizens, developers can seize your home or business and pay you a fraction of its value . I will support legislation to ensure that your homes and businesses cannot be seized at the whim of developers Tort Reform We, the citizens of Pennsylvania, are drowning in a sea of corruption—we need tort reform—our surgical doctors are leaving the state because of the greed of the trial lawyers—doctors can’t afford to pay for their liability insurance. Let’s cap non-economic damages. Please read on for more details about this critical problem. Judicial Reform We need judicial reform – our judges need to be qualified and of the highest integrity – not a party puppet. More on Tort Reform :Pennsylvania is in urgent need of tort reform. During the last 30 years the amount and scope of tort litigation has dramatically increased. The concept of trial lawyers taking cases on a contingency basis, and thereby reaping huge dividends for themselves, has helped escalate the problem. The most dramatic impact has been on the doctors and Physicians on whom we depend for our very lives. The cost of medical malpractice insurance has risen to the point where doctors are leaving the state in droves. In addition, hospitals are closing trauma units which will almost undoubtedly result in deaths of Pennsylvanians. :There are two key elements that the incumbents in Harrisburg have refused to fix. They are caps on pain and suffering damages and the elimination of the joint and several concept. ::The main reason you will never get tort reform from legislators like Stewart Greenleaf is that he benefits from the current tort situation ::Greenleaf is a Senior Partner in Elliott Greenleaf & Siedzikowski, one of the larger law firms in Pennsylvania. They are proud of the multi million dollar personal injury lawsuits they handle. :Pain and suffering damage caps :With no caps on the amount of damages for pain and suffering we're writing the attorneys a blank check and making life impossible for the Physicians in our state. All too often juries are swayed by the motion all arguments of the attorneys and award outrageous settlements . If we remember the last presidential election, we will recall that the democratic vice presidential candidate was a multimillion dollar trial lawyer who one cases by "channeling the spirit of the dead fetus " . We need to have caps , not in a limitation, of all words for pain and suffering . :Joint and several the concept of joint and several is another one that simply helps line the pockets of trial lawyers . In essence the concepts says that everyone involved can be sued. The problem is that it allows the trial lawyers to collect damages from any of the parties in even if they only had a small part of the responsibility for the situation. The incumbent, who receives support and funding from the trial lawyers association, did nothing to eliminate this concept . They claim that they're looking out for the victims . The reality is that the concept of joint and several allows attorneys to collect from people in a manner wholly disproportionate to their responsibility . This concept exposes Physicians to even more threats from lawsuits even when they were only responsible for a tiny part of the situation . No wonder our Physicians are leaving the Commonwealth. :Summary The current situation will cost the lives of Pennsylvanians. It is a well known fact that the sooner trauma victims are treated the better their chances of survival. The sooner a heart attack victim is attended to by a Physician, the better chance of his are her survival. When the attorneys have succeeded in driving out the Physicians that we depend upon where will we go for help? :We desperately need your support to help get Kathy Mendla elected. The incumbent will get thousands of dollars from law firms in the area and across the state. These donors will expect him to continue to support the multimillion dollar trial lawyer industry. as a grassroots candidacy , we don't have access to this type of support. However we are hoping that the thousands of people in district twelve and across the state of Pennsylvania who are concerned about our health care situation will contribute time and money to the campaign. Put someone in Harrisburg who does not owe the litigation industry and lobby for their election . But control of Harrisburg back in the hands of the citizens where it belongs . Township and Municipal Rights I will pass legislation that will give townships the legal right to say no to billboards in their town. My town of Southampton had an ordinance that prohibited billboards – but the billboard companies took us to court and won –now 10 680 square foot billboards will go up near the center of our town.—these billboards are as big as a house. Billboards are a threat to the citizens because they induce drivers to read and drive at the same time. Lyme Disease I will support improved Lyme disease Prevention, testing, and treatment. House bill 1534 would create a task force to educate the public about this disease and also allow doctors to give patients long-term treatment. However the incumbents are letting this bill die in committee. They are out of touch with the suffering of the Lyme disease patient. Lyme disease causes crippling arthritic and MS symptoms.. Also, we need to institute biological control of Lyme disease by placing in our open spaces the natural predators of ticks – the quail. From PA Cleansweep Pages Property Tax reform I am interested in Property Tax reform - right now I would support a bill to reduce property taxes by a minimum of 50 % funded by reducing bloat and pork. Lyme disease Prevention, Testing, and Treatment I support better Lyme disease Prevention, Testing, and Treatment. Tests for Lyme disease are inadequate. The DNA test that is effective is expensive and not covered by insurance. People have the disease and are not being treated and their symptoms worsen until they become crippling. We need to institute biological control of Lyme disease with natural predators of ticks. A bill that would provide better access to treatment (ie. not penalizing doctors who are aggressively treating this disease) has been sitting in committee with no action by the incumbents. Promoting Pennsylvania Tourism Townships should have the legal right to say no to billboards in their town. Billboards companies have taken towns to court to force them to put billboards in their town. The billboard companies are aggressively pursuing the small rural communities in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania constitution section 27 states, the people have a right...to the preservation of the natural , scenic, historic, and esthetic values of the environment. Billboards are a threat to the citizens because they induce drivers to read and drive at the same time. ISSUES Issues include * Tort Reform - Keeping our doctors in Pennsylvania * Truth in Government - Currently Pennsylvania does not allow the people to see how their money is being spent. * The Pay Raise - If elected, Kathy will not accept the illegal pay raise that the incumbents granted * Property Tax Reduction - Reduce property taxes WITHOUT raising income or other taxes by reducing the rampant waste in Harrisburg * Protection from Eminent Domain Abuses - Protect the citizens and small businesses in Pennsylvania from the siezure of their property by the abuse of eminent domain THE CAMPAIGN DISTRICT INFORMATION The District is located just outside Philadelphia and encompasses *Bucks County ** Upper Southampton Township, Warminster Township, Warrington Township * Montgomery County ** Lower Moreland Township, Upper Moreland Towhship, Upper Dublin Township, Bryn Athen, Hatboro, Horsham, Ambler, Lower Gwynedd Township, Upper Gwynedd Township, North Wales, Montgomery Township, Hatfield Township, Hatfield Borough, Franconia Township BIOGRAPHY Kathy Mendla has been very active in community affairs including fighting overdevelopment and fighting the proliferation of billboards. * BBA Wharton School, Accounting. (1990) * Community Organizations & Activities: ** Friends of the Southampton Library (2001) ** Upper Southampton Park, Rec, & Open Space Committee (2004) ** Upper Southampton Finance & Long Range Planning Committee. (2006) ** Public Office Previously Ran For: Auditor (2005) * Previously ran for auditor Links * VIPs * http://www.kathymendla.com - The Candidate's Main Page * http://kathymendla.blogspot.com - The Candidate's Blog * http://www.pacleansweep.com/cgi-bin/candidates.cgi?search_for=1139801145&action=one - Kathy Mendla's page on PA Cleansweep.com Mendla Mendla